Lipstick Ban For Turkish Airlines Flight Attendants Cancelled

The lipstick ban by Turkish Airlines has been squashed. The airline will not ban female flight attendants from wearing red lipstick and nail polish due to fears from secular Turks that the country is becoming too Islamic.

Earlier this month, Turkish Airlines said it would prohibit its flight attendants from wearing red or dark pink lipstick and nail polish to make its staff look more presentable and approachable.

However Turkish Airlines Chief Executive Temel Kotil says it won't be happening as this plan was proposed by junior managers who didn't consult with senior managers before announcing the ban, Reuters reports.

"As to the lipstick, we had no problems but somehow low-level managers put together a paper without asking us and that paper leaked to the media and became a big issue," Kotil said according to Reuters.

Kotil said the ban is off and flight attendants are free to wear what they want.

"As you know, some in Turkey are a little bit keen about these issues," said the fast-talking, U.S.-educated Kotil, who has served as chief executive since 2005. "We are a great global carrier and we know what we are doing."

After hearing about the ban, some Turks took to Twitter to share their outrage. The majority of Turks are Muslim but the country, which is a NATO member state and is trying to join the European Union, has a secular constitution. The airline's union president, Atilay Aycin said the ban was an attempt "to shape the company to fit its own political and ideological stance".

This isn't the only change that the airline has tried to make. Earlier this year, newspapers published the airline's plans for their crew to wear a more Ottoman-style uniform for women. The uniform included ankle-length dresses and Ottoman-style fez caps, which were shown in images, however this received a lot of backlash at many said the outfit was too conservative.

There is no official word on whether or not the airline will change the uniform.

According to CNN, the airline also prohibits flight attendants from having platinum blond hair as well as certain shades of red. Last month, the airline also made headlines when they decided to ban alcohol in business class on a majority of domestic flights. They also completely eliminated it on routes to eight conservative Middle East nations. "We love the union, we love our employees ... and hopefully we can find a solution," he said.